Forever in the Lost Tower
by Light Reveltion
Summary: Naruto and his team are off on another mission, but something goes wrong, and only Naruto is trapped in a time that is not his own. NarutoXSara (Update Status: Delayed)
1. Prologue: Enter the Lost Tower

"Naruto!"

I looked up and saw Sara falling again. I reached out my hand to grab hers, but it was too late. The tower caved in and all went dark.

"NARUTO!"

I jumped to my feet. I had been sleeping and Sakura was glaring at me with her fist ready in front of her.

"Woah, Sakura! You're not planning to hit me again are you?" I exclaim, my face twisted with fear.

"Watch it, Naruto. If I catch you sleeping on the job again, I'll definitely pummel you until you can't feel it!" With that she calms down. She's looking away from me and pouting, and I can see that she's really really pissed this time.

Dazed and still half-asleep, I try to remember why I had such a strange dream. It's strange. Who is this Sara I keep dreaming on about? How do I know her?

"...ruto..."

Maybe I was just dreaming after all? I definitely don't have visions of the future, or so I think...

"NARUTO!"

Catching me off guard, a fist with a ton of weight behind it comes crashing down into my gut. "UUURRRGH!" My whole body cries out in pain and I look up to see Sakura leering down at me.

"Why do you keep hitting me for? I was just thinking about something!"

"Naruto... Do you have a good explanation as to why you were daydreaming now?" An aura of anger and frustration surrounds Sakura as she continues, "We're almost at the ruins, so hurry up. Captain Yamato and Sai are already out waiting for us."

Shrugging her off, I make for the entrance to where the seal is.

* * *

Upon nearing the entrance, I am the first to notice a shadow enter the cave before we do. "Yamato-san!" I cry out to him. Understanding that there may be an enemy nearby, he motions to the rest of the team to enter carefully together.

I take a step forward and in the clearing is what looks like a seal. I walk towards it oblivious to the fact that my team had not yet to enter. A man suddenly appears near the seal and glares towards me with a look that says, _you can't stop me._ "Hey! Who do you think you are! Get away from that seal!" I run as fast as my legs can carry me.

But I had not taken even two steps when a powerful force comes from the seal; the man had released it. The force consumes me entirely and I black out.


	2. A girl, puppets, and mysterious ninjas

"...takaku noboru hikari..."

"nn..hngh?" I slowly open my eyes.

"wakitachi taru omoi..."

A stream of light shines through the cracks in the ceiling and walls. _wait, where am I?_ I look around and I see that I'm inside some sort of cave. I slowly get to my feet. I hear a soft voice singing quietly and turn my head toward the sound. There's a pretty red-haired girl singing softly what sounds like a lullaby. I notice a stream of tears running down her cheeks as she gazes somewhere. _Uh... let's see... how did I get here again? Maybe that girl knows where I am? _I realize the sound of singing had stopped. Looking back to where the girl was sitting... I don't see her anymore. _Am I imagining things? I'm sure I saw someone there just a second ago..._

I see a door, probably the exit. Jumping to the highest possible location in the ancient cave-like room, I search the entire area for that girl, but she's not there anymore. I get down and decide to exit for now. The doors strangely move automatically and close again after I leave. _That's strange, is this maybe a trick on my mind?_ I stand outside and am surprised by what now looms in front of me.

Towers. Maybe thousands of them. There are pipes and bridges connecting the towers to each other. But it doesn't look like a single soul is in sight. I sit down on the grass to give some thought as to the whereabouts of my team and what I remember before getting here.

[20 minutes later]

Holding my head in my hands I cry out in frustration, "Aaaugh! I don't remember how I got here! Where're Sakura, Sai, and Yamato?" Just then from the corner of my eye I suddenly see two... no five large figures heading toward me. "Huh? What are those th-" One of them attacks in my direction, and I leap towards one of the towers by instinct. "Where did these things come from? Who's there?!" _think, think! where have i seen something like those things before? Right, ninja puppets! The guy we were chasing, Mukage or whatever his name was... is he the one controlling them? Is he here somewhere?  
_

"Naruto, you shouldn't lower your guard and attack the main body like that. With all puppets there is always someone controlling them. That means there must be strings attached connecting the user to the puppet. Why didn't you use your chakra blade? We told you to use it so that you can cut those strings!" _Sakura did say that a while ago didn't she? Gahh, I still don't get it, why do I have to put my chakra into this blade anyways?_

I remember something about chakra blades. I reach towards my back where the sealing kunai is and take it out. Nothing happens. Confused I exclaim, "Why is it not working? Why?" _Wait, if I can't see the strings in the first place how will cutting them with a chakra blade supposed to work?_ I dodge another attack by reflex and decide on a tactical retreat for now.

* * *

"It looks like we got here on time," A blond-haired young man said as his team arrived at the east end of the looming towers in the desert. "It doesn't seem to have changed much from the pictures in the books. But this is not time for chit chat, we have a mission to complete. Let's go!" The man and his teammates dash into the maze of towers. Their movements are fast but the blond's speed is even faster as if he was instantly moving from place to place.

Their mission is not a simple one and is ranked S. What they do not know is that time has distorted and another ninja from the future had arrived in the same place not too long ago.

* * *

"Whew, it seems going inside the tower was the right choice, they're not coming inside." I gasp while catching my breath. I sense a person nearby and look up. A young woman in a beautiful royal garment is standing at the end of the hallway at a large doorway. It takes me a moment to realize that the face of the woman is the same as of the girl I saw earlier.

"Hey! Can you tell me what is this place?" I yell out toward her. Startled, she seems to have just noticed me now and instead of replying she turns and runs out of the hall. Getting back to my feet, I run after her all the while yelling, "Hey, you! Could you stop running, please? I just want to know where I am and what happened to my friends! If you know something could you please let me know?!" I step into the doorway to find a spiraling stairway. Judging on where the sounds of her footsteps are coming from, I dash up the stairs.

I'd say after about 3 or 4 flights I catch a glimpse of red hair as the girl enters another doorway into a different room. As I'm about to enter, suddenly a group of large puppets appear out of nowhere and block me from entering. They attack all at once, as if trying to prevent me from meeting the girl. Using my shadow clone art, I am able to push myself away while my clone takes the brunt of the attack and I escape upwards hoping to find an escape. _Man, if Sakura was here, she could probably just blast a hole in the wall and we'd be out of here in no time! This stairway feels like it's endless, I hope I won't be stuck here forever._

The puppets are fast and are about to close in on me. _How do these puppets know where I am... or rather how does the puppetmaster know where I am? It's dark in here with no windows... actually how can the strings be so long?_ I pause for a second to think over what is going on. Just then one of the puppets reaches out with its arm and a thousand needles come shooting out of its hand. Before I can react, there is a flash of light and everything goes fuzzy as I blank out.


End file.
